P. Zorowka et al., SERIAL MEASUREMENTS OF TRANSIENT EVOKED OTOACOUSTIC EMISSIONS (TEOAES) IN HEALTHY NEWBORNS AND IN NEWBORNS WITH PERINATAL INFECTION, International journal of pediatric otorhinolaryngology, 27(3), 1993, pp. 245-254
Detection of hearing impairment in early childhood is difficult. We se
rially recorded transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) to sea
rch for signs of ototoxicity in term, healthy newborns and compared th
e results to a second group of term babies treated for perinatally acq
uired bacterial infection with ampicillin plus either cefotaxime or pl
us aminoglycoside. At initial evaluation, in the group of 45 healthy c
hildren born at term, well reproducible emissions were observed in all
but two children. In each of these two, initially well reproducible T
EOAEs were detected in one ear only. At the time of the second recordi
ng (mean at day 8.5) excellent emissions were seen in all ears of all
children. Similarly, in the second group receiving ampicillin plus eit
her cefotaxime or plus aminoglycoside, the height of emissions as well
as TEOAE-reproducibility was equal or even increased at the time of t
he second evaluation in all 17 patients. In the following group of 59
patients, all receiving ampicillin plus aminoglycoside, again TEOAEs w
ere equal or improved at the time of follow-up examinations. In all pa
tients, a reduced general condition tended to be associated with less
reproducible TEOAEs. We conclude that at conventional doses in low-ris
k infants, aminoglycosides are unlikely to cause ototoxicity and that
in early childhood serial TEOAE-recording may be useful for evaluation
of inner ear function.